what's working for us {laundry}

I have had a couple people ask about the "laundry system" that I mentioned was working so well for us in my last post. Laundry is something that I have had a hard time staying on top of (especially since having Logan). It seemed that his favorite thing to do for a while was to rip through freshly folded laundry. So for about two years, we would wind up with a mountain of clean laundry in our bedroom.

I am a believer that what works for one family may not work for another, but I set out to figure out what would work for us. I had read a few articles about how to manage household chores, and more specifically family laundry.

I took pieces of the advice that I read and changed some things to get what has been working perfectly for us...

• I bought three of these tall thin hampers to sort our laundry by person. They connect to make a row, or you can keep them separated.
• I split our laundry up by person and then have one basket for towels and bedding.
• Every morning when I wake up I choose the basket that is most full and make it my goal to have that one load clean, folded, and put away by the end of the day.
• I try to do the wash in the morning, switch it to the dryer before lunch, and fold during Logan's quiet time. If we are out during the day I have made it a habit to get it done before bed at night.

This is why I have found that it is working so well...

• I am much less likely to put it off if I know that I only need to do one load every day.
• We haven't had to set any middle of the night alarms to switch loads so that Dan would have a specific piece of clothing for work the next day. Not like that has ever happened before. ;)
• Knowing that each load is only going to one closet/bedroom has helped me put it right away as soon as it is folded instead of waiting and letting it become a mountain of clean laundry.
• It has given me a reason to force myself to sit down for a few minutes and fold. I put on a favorite show, grab a cup of water or tea, and have found that it is actually very relaxing.
• It has helped me be more aware of how much laundry we go through. I have found that I do Dan's about twice a week (because of all of the work clothes). I do my clothes, Logan's clothes, bedding, and towels all about once a week.
• Knowing how many loads we do has helped me to realize that having a busy day every once in a while won't put me behind because I can take a laundry free day every week.

I didn't really believe a little more organization, or splitting loads up by person would help much. I decided to give it a try anyway, and have been shocked at the difference it has made. It is so easy that I can't believe I haven't been doing this all along.

If you decide to try this out (or a different method) let me know how it works for you. I would imagine larger families may find that they need to do more than one load on some days in order to stay caught up. If you are thinking about switching things up, but aren't sure if such a small change will make a difference I say go for it!